Poor, Stupid Girl
Posted 06-28-2011 at 07:11 AM by LookinForMayberry
She's 24 and has her world by the tail. Graduating from college with honors, she eloped with her college sweetheart from a northern plain state to come to the big city and make their fortunes. She's pretty, she's quick to smile, and her lithe form catches the interests of men young and old.
She doesn't have the common sense God gave a goose.
When my boss told me he'd found a sharp girl that just needed the opportunity, and he was going to hire her for our project's data entry needs, I was excited to have her aboard. The project was already daunting, and having a quick study to come in and take up the balls that were dropping from the overworked team would be a Godsend.
Trouble was, no matter how often she'd correctly parrot back the instructions she'd received, and show understanding in a few monitored transactions, a half-hour later I would come back to find her online reading her personal emails, balancing her bank statements, and looking at photos of her dog. When questioned about her time management, she'd sulk and accuse me of being too demanding.
I persevered, biting my tongue, continually giving praise for what should've been expected, just to keep her working.
Then the complaints started coming in, first from Materials, then Engineering. Not only were her work ethics scant, but her quality was worse. More counseling resulted in more pouting, more snits -- I started developing a twitch. I considered bailing, but I felt a personal dedication to my boss.
Finally, after two and a half VERY long months, the data entry was finished. The project completed through it's first major milestone, I happily informed my boss that my need for his star protege was over, and recommended that she might be better assigned elsewhere. I told him that she needed work in her communications and organizational skills, but I was confident that he'd be able to succeed in both.
Since then, the other members of the team all thinking I was in the wrong where she was concerned have discovered their own private hells after receiving her assistance. In self preservation, each of us have separately tried to help her understand how to do her assigned tasks better, only to have our attempts perceived and reported as picking on her.
One might think she's pretty sharp, having taken such advantage of her situation, manipulating our boss to take her under his wing. I would, if I were in her shoes.
At 55, and once walked MILES in those shoes, I can tell her that without substance, form becomes useless as it starts sagging. Without skills, when one's appearance no longer makes that spark, there will still be work to do. Most importantly, it is not the men in a woman's life that makes life worth living, it is ourselves.
My poor, stupid girl thinks she's got it all figured out, and those men with authority in her future will make her life possible -- and they will, for awhile. With luck, she'll keep her looks and bright smile until she's ninety, but it's not the way to bet.
I've done what I could, as have the other mature, experienced women in our office. Trying to show her how to succeed after the looks are gone. Sadly, like us, it's just a lesson she will have to learn on her own.
Mothers, don't raise your girls to be princesses. Raise them to be women that can stand on their own -- PLEASE.
God bless the woman that knows her own.
Amen.
She doesn't have the common sense God gave a goose.
When my boss told me he'd found a sharp girl that just needed the opportunity, and he was going to hire her for our project's data entry needs, I was excited to have her aboard. The project was already daunting, and having a quick study to come in and take up the balls that were dropping from the overworked team would be a Godsend.
Trouble was, no matter how often she'd correctly parrot back the instructions she'd received, and show understanding in a few monitored transactions, a half-hour later I would come back to find her online reading her personal emails, balancing her bank statements, and looking at photos of her dog. When questioned about her time management, she'd sulk and accuse me of being too demanding.
I persevered, biting my tongue, continually giving praise for what should've been expected, just to keep her working.
Then the complaints started coming in, first from Materials, then Engineering. Not only were her work ethics scant, but her quality was worse. More counseling resulted in more pouting, more snits -- I started developing a twitch. I considered bailing, but I felt a personal dedication to my boss.
Finally, after two and a half VERY long months, the data entry was finished. The project completed through it's first major milestone, I happily informed my boss that my need for his star protege was over, and recommended that she might be better assigned elsewhere. I told him that she needed work in her communications and organizational skills, but I was confident that he'd be able to succeed in both.
Since then, the other members of the team all thinking I was in the wrong where she was concerned have discovered their own private hells after receiving her assistance. In self preservation, each of us have separately tried to help her understand how to do her assigned tasks better, only to have our attempts perceived and reported as picking on her.
One might think she's pretty sharp, having taken such advantage of her situation, manipulating our boss to take her under his wing. I would, if I were in her shoes.
At 55, and once walked MILES in those shoes, I can tell her that without substance, form becomes useless as it starts sagging. Without skills, when one's appearance no longer makes that spark, there will still be work to do. Most importantly, it is not the men in a woman's life that makes life worth living, it is ourselves.
My poor, stupid girl thinks she's got it all figured out, and those men with authority in her future will make her life possible -- and they will, for awhile. With luck, she'll keep her looks and bright smile until she's ninety, but it's not the way to bet.
I've done what I could, as have the other mature, experienced women in our office. Trying to show her how to succeed after the looks are gone. Sadly, like us, it's just a lesson she will have to learn on her own.
Mothers, don't raise your girls to be princesses. Raise them to be women that can stand on their own -- PLEASE.
God bless the woman that knows her own.
Amen.
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